Agenda Index City of Vancouver

POLICY REPORT
URBAN STRUCTURE

TO:

Vancouver City Council

FROM:

Director of Current Planning, in consultation with the
Manager of Real Estate Services, the General Managers of Engineering Services and the Park Board, the Director of Social Planning and the Manager of the Housing Centre

SUBJECT:

Southeast False Creek Policy Statement:
Towards a Sustainable Urban Neighbourhood and Major Park.

 

RECOMMENDATION

________________________________________________________________________

*Appendix E: Limited Distribution. On file in the City Clerk's Office.

CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

Appendix A provides a comprehensive review of Council policy and objectives for the Southeast False Creek lands.

PURPOSE

This report conveys the Southeast False Creek (SEFC) Policy Statement to Council for adoption as completion of the policy development phase. This document will guide both the creation of the Official Development Plan (ODP) and the subsequent sub-area rezonings. .

SUMMARY

In June of 1997, planning commenced in SEFC to create a high density, family-oriented residential neighbourhood which would model the principles of sustainable development. The first stage, the creation of a policy statement to guide development, included one of the most comprehensive public involvement processes undertaken by the city, involving hundreds of individuals and numerous organizations over two years. At the outset, a consultancy on sustainable development gave clarity to the complex issue of sustainability and allowed staff, an advisory group and the public to create a draft policy statement. These draft policies were then taken out for public discussion and further refined. To ensure that they were realistic, the policies were then tested in a design charrette where three multi-disciplinary teams created different development scenarios for the site.

As a final step, in preparation for Council's consideration, futher environmental and economic analyses were undertaken. This work, along with growing support and understanding of the benefits of park in a sustainable urban community, have resulted in a significant increase to the park component. Current recommendations would result in over half of the City lands, north of 1st Avenue, being dedicated to a major park, with a commensurate reduction in development density to about 2.2 million sq.ft.. With these final adjustments, staff believe that a win/win scenario has been achieved between the provision of a sustainable community and a major park, and consequently, the SEFC Policy Statement is recommended to serve as a policy guide for the Official Development Plan and subsequent rezoning(s).

BACKGROUND

In 1995, Council approved a generalized work program and budget for the planning and rezoning of SEFC. Council decided to undertake an economic analysis of development options for the site before planning proceeded. Following receipt of Stanley Kwok's economic feasibility study, "Creekside Landing", in June, 1997, the planning process commenced. For the past year and a half, in a comprehensive process, staff from all departments have been working together with an environmental consultant, an advisory group, interest groups, adjacent communities, and the City's development consultant preparing the SEFC Policy Statement.

DISCUSSION

Site and Context

A map of the site and description of the surrounding context are included in Appendix B.

Preparation of a Southeast False Creek Policy Statement

Sustainable Development Consultancy
Recognizing the challenges involved in creating a development in SEFC that would move towards sustainability, Council approved a sustainable development consultancy as a first step. The Sheltair Group and a team of consultants were hired in October 1997 to work closely with staff to complete this study. They were asked to: define sustainable development in the urban context as it relates to the SEFC site; define goals and objectives; and, from a list of relevant precedents, determine realistic goals and targets to pursue in moving toward sustainable development on this site, and to outline a full cost accounting framework and methodology. The product of their work, a document entitled "Visions, Tools and Targets: Environmentally Sustainable Development Guidelines for Southeast False Creek," was presented to Council on April 30, 1998. The recommendations of this consultants' report have informed the public planning process and the development of the Policy Statement.

Advisory Group
Public interest in the redevelopment of SEFC has been building for a number of years, especially since the 1995 Council Report. While the City was considering economic feasibility for SEFC in 1995-97, a great deal of work was completed by groups interested in the site. To draw these people into the process and to benefit from the work already done, an advisory group was set up. Their role was to assist staff in the evaluation of the sustainable development consultancy and in the preparation of the draft Policy Statement. This broad-based group brought together youth advocates, students, professionals, academics and representatives of the development community (see Appendix C for the advisory group membership). The group donated a great deal of their time to the process and continues to act in an advisory capacity.

Public Process
With the completion of a draft Policy Statement in May, the public process began. Included were over 30 meetings with interest groups, adjacent neighbourhoods, professionals, representatives of the development community, Council's advisory committees and the general public (see Appendix D for a complete list). As a result, many revisions were made to the draft Policy Statement presented at a public meeting in December. The revised document has been very well received by all involved.

The Design Charrette
As a conclusion to the policy development process, a three-day design charrette was held in October, to bring a design perspective into the emerging policies. Three teams of local and international experts were assembled representing architectural, landscape architectural, engineering, planning, and development interests. As well, a resource team of City staff and CMHC personnel provided assistance and details of City policy. Also included were architecture and landscape architecture students from UBC who had put in a term studying SEFC.

The charrette was intended to test the Policy Statement's recommendations in a design context, provide new and creative ideas, and, with CMHC's help, let the rest of Canada know about the sustainable development possibilities in SEFC. In all instances the expectations of the charrette were met or exceeded. The charrette also brought about a number of changes in the Policy Statement, and its findings will positively influence the ODP, rezoning and the eventual development of the site.

Staff Technical Analysis
The Policy Statement has been scrutinized in detail by technical staff from all departments to ensure its recommendations are economically and technically realistic and consistent with other successful neighbourhood development policy. There has also been careful analysis of how sustainability-oriented infrastructure initiatives fit with existing City infrastructure arrangements and programs. The proposed policies have been determined by all City Departments to be compatible with City programs and financially viable in all respects.

The Economic Analysis
It is important to note that while we are taking a step forward in SEFC toward making the city more sustainable, a close eye has been kept on the realities of development, both short and long term, to ensure the economic viability of SEFC. This analysis has indicated that initiatives undertaken with sustainability objectives in mind may have little effect on the economic viability of the project, if the developers and the public are prepared to pay more for sustainability features in the short run, for long term economic and environmental gain.

The primary economic issue in SEFC is land value within the current market. In today's depressed real estate market the project is not economical, as the total infrastructure costs (including rezoning), when deducted from the land sales, result in a value less than the present zoned land value. With the projected increase in land values, the return on the large infrastructure costs are still minimal relative to the risk (cost) involved. Environmental costs (soils) have not been factored into the analysis as they are the landowner's responsibility, whether the development proceeds or not.

Nevertheless, it is economically prudent to proceed to the next step in the planning process, to ensure an expedient response to future market conditions. The expectation would be not to market the site until market conditions are optimal. There may also be alternative sources of funds, in and beyond the City, identifiable during development planning, for any extra costs associated with sustainability measures. Moreover, we can likely generate mechanisms to capture further cost savings from environmental efficiencies through full cost accounting. All such measures will contribute to the project's economic viability.

This Policy Statement is Unique But Builds on Existing Policy

To respond to the challenge of moving towards sustainability at a large scale in the urban context of SEFC, a different planning process, as outlined above, was undertaken. The result is a unique Policy Statement, built from the foundation of those adopted in the past for both False Creek North and Coal Harbour, with additions in scope and detail of issues addressed, to respond to the goals of sustainability.

The SEFC Policy Statement builds on over 20 years of experience in creating successful, new inner city neighbourhoods. Included are long-supported policies which will create a complete, mixed use neighbourhood which integrates physically and socially into its urban context. It also calls for a range of housing to support a diverse social mix, complemented by a full range of amenities, to ensure a rich and varied cultural life in the neighbourhood, and many opportunities for passive and active, indoor and outdoor recreation. Transportation is to favour pedestrians, bicycles and transit over the automobile. Sustainable urban development principles have further refined the planning approach to the above policies, focusing attention on all stages of planning and development, including zoning and building phases.

The SEFC Policy Statement also takes significant additional steps beyond that achieved in other areas. New policies relating to energy, waste, water, air quality, and economic development have been included. Moreover, in recognition of the importance of maintaining the vision of a more sustainable community, another new section entitled "Stewardship"

concludes the document. Here, one of the proposed policies recommends establishment of a stewardship advisory group, comprised of community representatives, City staff, and representation from the interest groups who have been actively involved in sustainable development. Over time, the group would be modified to focus on SEFC residents and businesses. It is intended that the role of this group would be to advise at the ODP and rezoning stages, as well as to monitor and reassess through development and occupancy, advising the City in a manner similar to other of Council's committees. While the exact nature of the group is yet to be decided, it is important to make a commitment to ensure the vision is maintained throughout the process.

Development Density

One of the key goals of the planning process included ensuring a high degree of livability through balancing development density with a major park. To this end, staff recommend that a design density target, in the order of 2.2 million sq.ft. of residential and mixed use, be identified for the ODP for the development of the City-owned lands north of 1st Avenue.

Parks and Recreation

One of the most important aspects in realizing the goal of a high density, sustainable urban neighbourhood is the provision of an adequate amount of park and open space. Park in SEFC will provide an extensive open space network throughout the neighbourhood, offering a diversity of recreational opportunities, increasing the environmental health and sustainability of the neighbourhood, connecting housing to amenities and adjacent neighbourhoods and promoting health and a good quality of life for residents and visitors, especially those using the waterfront walkway/bikeway. Efforts will also be made to highlight the rich cultural heritage of SEFC, including the positioning of artifacts of industrial heritage in prominent public spaces.

The Policy Statement envisions that a major park be designed into the neighbourhood. Not only must this space provide a wide range of recreational opportunities for residents and visitors, but it must also provide an "ecological infrastructure" of water, trees, gardens and habitat to increase the environmental health of the site and the city as a whole.

With this in mind, the SEFC Policy Statement recommends that the City maintain the park standard of 1.25 hectares (2.75 acres) per 1,000 residents, not only for 4,500 residents anticipated on the 20.45 hectares (45 acres) of City-owned land, as previous mega-project park standards would suggest, but also for the additional 3,300 residents anticipated on 15.9 hectares (35 acres) of privately-owned land in the study area, generating as much as 9.77 hectares (21.5 acres) for the 7,800 residents anticipated in the entire study area.

Furthermore, other policies, such as those covering soils management and the waterfront walkway/bikeway system, will provide additional park and open space amenities, resulting in an ODP design target of 12 hectares (26.4 acres)for park and recreation purposes in SEFC, or over half of the City-owned land north of 1st Avenue. Staff believe that this amount of park will meet both the recreational and ecological needs of a sustainable urban community in SEFC.

While this park area is not as large as some have requested, specifically that the entire City-owned lands be given to park, staff also recognize that depending on the City's land consolidation strategies, part or all of an additional 2.27 hectares (5 acres) of privately held land north of 1st Avenue, may be available for park uses, potentially increasing park area to over 13.6 hectares (30 acres), or 60% of the land north of 1st Avenue.

The park requirement for residents on City-owned land can be provided in-kind through the rezoning; and the additional park, associated with residents in privately-owned lands, can be provided through development cost levies applied to those lands.

CONCLUSION

The Policy Statement for SEFC (attached as Appendix E) is submitted for Council's adoption as the conclusion of the policy development phase and its public involvement process, which included over a thousand people.

This document is both a comprehensive and realistic view of actions that need to take place, to ensure that a strong vision for SEFC will become a reality. It creates a win/win situation, responding to both development and park needs. As such, SEFC will be a sustainable neighbourhood that can provide both a model for progressive development in our region and a major park, to serve adjacent, park-deficient neighbourhoods in an economically and environmentally viable manner.

* * * * *

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APPENDIX A
Page 1 of 2

COUNCIL POLICY ON SOUTHEAST FALSE CREEK

On August 30, 1988, Council approved several policies for Southeast False Creek, as part of the False Creek Policy Statement, on land and water use, social mix and amenities.

On July 26, 1990, Council identified lands, north of First Avenue, between the Cambie City Works Yard and Quebec Street, on the Southeast Shore of False Creek, as an area that should be released from industrial use and directed staff to report back on a work program to prepare new zoning.

On October 16, 1990, Council adopted the Clouds of Change report which called for planning initiatives that:

· bring housing and employment closer together;
· increase housing adjacent to Vancouver's Central Area; and
· with respect to the Southeast Shore of False Creek, incorporate principles of energy efficient community design in the area plan.

On May 2, 1991, Council resolved that the City should set rezoning fees to achieve a 50% cost recovery for processing rezoning applications for mega-projects.

On December 3, 1991, as part of the Central Area Plan, Council resolved that:

· housing should be the predominant land use when planning the Southeast Shore of False Creek;
· the location of the city's Cambie Works Yard be reaffirmed until at least 2003; and
· the provision of housing for families with children was identified as a priority for Southeast False Creek.

On November 17, 1993, City Council approved the Vancouver Arts Initiative that included a recommendation that staff review and report back on the availability and feasibility of developing a City-owned site, in particular on the south shore of False Creek, as an Arts Resource Centre.

On February 22, 1994, City Council approved the recommendation:

"THAT the preservation of a transportation corridor, capable of facilitating a streetcar line, be incorporated into the planning program for Southeast False Creek..."

Appendix A
Page 2 of 2

On December 6, 1994, City Council approved the recommendation:

"THAT the Special Office for the Environment liaise with the Director of Planning and the Director of Housing and Properties to explore the potential for utilizing City Lands in Southeast False Creek as a model for sustainable development."

On October 11, 1995, Council approved the recommendation:

"THAT the boundaries, management structure, planning process and timing, beginning in January 1996, for the preparation of an Overall Policy Statement, an Official Development and zoning for the Southeast Shore of False Creek, ...be approved..."

On May 8, 1997, Council approved the recommendation :

"THAT the Director of Central Area Planning be instructed to proceed with the Council -approved planning process for the Southeast Shore of False Creek, with the consultancy on sustainable development as an initial activity in the that planning process."

"THAT Council instruct staff that existing City policies, guidelines and by-laws should be the starting point for planning a sustainable and economically viable community in Southeast False Creek;

"AND THAT Council will consider variations to existing standards and by-laws in the development of area specific guidelines to ensure that the overall development provides appropriate community benefits within a sustainable and economic framework;

"AND FURTHER THAT consideration of the characteristics of a sustainable development in Southeast False Creek reflect its urban context."

On July 8, 1997, Council approved a Terms of Reference for a consultancy on environmental sustainability in Southeast False Creek, and on October 14, 1997, Council approved the hiring of Sheltair Scientific Ltd. to complete the consultancy. The consultancy report was received by Council in April 1998.

APPENDIX C
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Members of the Southeast False Creek planning Advisory Group

Ronald Bain - Architect: Ecodesign Resource Society

Ed Ferriera - Commercial Real Estate Consultant

Dr. Fiona Crofton - Facilitator of the Advisory Group: The ORCAD Group Inc.

Jeanette Frost - Engineer: Keen Engineering

Rob Gritten - Real Estate Consultant: Avison Young

Jeff Herold - Development Consultant: Herold Development Services Ltd.

John Irwin - Student: SEFC Working Group

Ga Ching Kong - Urban Youth Alliance

Bob Laurie - Real Estate Manager: Finning Intl.

Barbara Lindsay - Vancouver City Planning Commission

Patrick Mooney - Director of UBC Landscape Architecture Program

Jennie Moore - Regional Air and Energy Advisor

David Osborne - False Creek South Community Representative

Mike Overholt - Landowner Representative

Eva Riccius - Student: SEFC Working Group

Gavin Ross - Mt Pleasant Community Association

Alice Sundberg - Exec. Director: BC Nonprofit Housing Association

Joe Winkler - Landowner Representative

Tana Worschester - Student: Environmental Youth Alliance

APPENDIX D
Page 1 of 1

Groups Informed and Consulted on the Southeast False Creek Policy Statement

SEFC Landowners

Neighbouring Community Groups

Park Board
Vancouver Richmond Health Board
Vancouver City Planning Commission
Urban Design Panel
City Youth Committee
Bicycle Advisory Committee
Blueways Advisory Committee
Heritage Commission
Community Arts Council

School Board
BC Transit
GVRD
BC Hydro

Urban Development Institute
Construction Round Table
AIBC (Architects)
PIBC (Planners) AGM
Vancity Credit Union
SEFC Working Group

Environmental Youth Alliance

Urban Heritage Trail
UBC Planning School
UBC Landscape Architecture
UBC Architecture School

SFU - Several Classes
Native Education Centre
Recycling Council of BC
COAST (housing)
EcoCafe
SPEC & environmental groups
Ecodesign Resource Society
Academics
CMHC

Several General Public Meetings

Many discussions with individuals, especially students

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